CDAC to help more families with new criteria
The Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) will raise the qualification criteria for its help schemes from January next year.
More needy families will benefit, with the monthly income threshold lifted from $1,900 to $2,400.
CDAC announced the move yesterday, and said the per capita income criterion will also rise from $650 to $800.
With these changes, the CDAC projects that about 1,500 new families will benefit from its schemes, and about 1,500 families who are already on its programmes will qualify for even more support.
In another change, beneficiaries from more disadvantaged families will receive stronger support on a more sustained basis, the organisation said.
It will "make adjustments to extend assistance on a multi-year basis" to families who need greater support.
For example, a child from a family facing long-term financial and job challenges could be given a three-year continuous bursary. Currently, bursaries have to be applied for and are disbursed yearly.
This will work on a case-by-case basis and case workers will be given room to exercise judgement, CDAC added.
Families with a monthly household income of $4,000 and below, or a per capita income of $1,200 and below, will also be eligible for certain programme subsidies after the criteria revision. The current thresholds are $3,300 and $900 respectively.
Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, who is also the CDAC board chairman, said: "While we will continue to expand outreach and offer quality programmes to more low-income families, we are identifying the more disadvantaged families to provide them with holistic and deepened support.
"The objective is to ensure social mobility within the Chinese community, and recognising that education for children and stable jobs for parents are the best ways to bring this about."
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